Sat Sri Akal, family
At the risk of getting scolded by the administrator again (sorry!), let me say one more thing about yoga. We Can Elevate! Sikhi is, without a doubt, the most pure faith represented on Earth, but this doesn't mean our everyday lifestyle in the Sikhi consciousness is necessarily at its peak.
By way of example, let me say: when I am in Punjab, although this is a most beautiful and blessed place, I encounter, even in the midst of wonderful, devout Sikh communities, occasions of gross soil pollution, noise pollution, air pollution, woman suppression, caste consciousness, also racism.
I was in Amritsar a few years ago with two African guests, the woman friend was from Senegal and thus very dark Black. I felt bad for her because at the great mandir, the long line of people filing to enter the gurdwara were gazing at her with absolutely undisguised rudeness and bewilderment, as a crowd might look at someone from mars, walking naked. Mind you, this was not out of malice, like people had fixed positions about Aryan supremacy or anti-Black bigotry, but rather just unabashed ignorance of the unfamiliar, expressed in unintentional rudeness.
Some years ago, I was showing a high leader of another spiritual community (in the Semitic tradition) a wooden staff I was carrying that had a passage of Sukhmani Sahib etched in it. He asked me what it said. I gave him the translation and said it was from the Sikh scriptures, originating in India. His response was "India?...They worship rats!". This was his perception of Indian spirituality and the extent of his knowledge or interest in India. I know somewhere in India there are indeed temples where rats are revered (probably not worshiped, though), but with this one ignorant indictment he had swept away thousands of years of philosophy, history, scripture, culture, four religions, and centuries of high spiritual science. It would be a shame to likewise dismiss some real merit in certain yogic practice based on a sweeping view that 'yoga is an indulgent waste of time'.
My point is that even though we live the very highest teachings, it's ok to realize we can still elevate. The comments I've read in this thread generally dismissing the merit of yoga in Sikhi betray, quite frankly, the position of one who has never really tasted the experience. Discriptions like yoga is 'sitting in a corner, twiddling your thumbs, or sitting in silly postures, indulging in vain self-exploration rather than engaging in the real world' are the observations of one who has not genuinely tried Sikh Kundalini Yoga. I am not a salesman for this science, nor am I a member of Yogi Bhajan's community. I am simply saying, if we took the time to actually taste this science, rather than falling back on pat, uninformed dismissals of all yoga as self-indulgent, selfish and futile, we would learn that this Kundalini Yoga, is really just a art of extending our prayer and devotion into physical discipline. Done properly, it clears the mind, heightens awareness, strengthens the spine and body, teaches stamina and endurance, and, yes, might even give a feeling of transcendant joy and spiritual ecstasy.
You see, in this case, this has nothing to do with wasting your time off in a corner, absorbed in wasteful pursuits, but rather brings all these attributes into engaging the world clearer, stronger, more joyfully.
Again, I am selling nothing, but rather encouraging us to be willing to contemplate higher ways of doing things without dismissing them out of hand because of preconceived notions that may not be true.
Sorry about the meandering logic, but in the midst of our everyday practice there is always room for more holiness and higher heights.
